


Clinging to the Ocean

by sadwolf



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Love Confessions, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Walks On The Beach, rusalka (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:21:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadwolf/pseuds/sadwolf
Summary: “You didn’t give me a chance to answer.” Derek’s voice was unbelievably soft, barely audible above the wind and the tides.“I already know you don’t feel the same, it’s okay.” Stiles’s smile felt too sharp on his own face, and it cut into his heart.Derek’s eyes flickered between Stiles’s own, searching for something he did not know. “Are you so sure?”
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 14
Kudos: 258





	Clinging to the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this for a challenge in a discord i am in where i was given a title and then i wrote a story for that title. it was a lot of fun! please enjoy! <3

Stiles walked on the sandy beach, watching the sun set over the waves and trying to forget the seafoam eyes of Derek Hale. He ran a shaky hand through his hair as he let out a sigh into the salted air. 

He had ruined everything, as usual. Been too clingy, too obvious. The way Derek’s eyes had widened in surprise, the way his lips had parted, when Stiles had shouted those three words at the height of their heated shouting match. It had poured out of him like a wave, the tender affection he held crashing out, and he was unable to stop the words.

_ I love you. _

Stiles had left before Derek could gather himself enough to reject him, had clambered into his jeep and sped off to the coast where he used to collect seashells with his parents. It was an hour away and the only place he could think of to get some space to think.

Going back now seemed so daunting. It would be dark soon, the pinks and purples of the sky were already painting the clouds with shadowy hues. But Stiles didn’t feel ready to face Beacon Hills again, to face Derek again and their argument about how to defeat the rusalka that was haunting the lake in the preserve.

He turned his gaze away from the water to watch his shoes drift across the dark sand as he stepped, disturbing it just enough to leave slight footprints that would eventually wash away with the waves. The temporary nature of it eased something within him. 

Jutting out of the sand a few steps ahead was a white shell. Curious and eager for a distraction, Stiles picked it up and cleaned it off on his shirt, wiping away the sand to reveal a sand dollar. It was fully intact and a little on the small side.

On one of his research spirals, Stiles had discovered that sand dollars were not shells but actually sea creature skeletons that washed ashore and became bleached by the sun. The actual creatures were purple but retained the star shape that made sand dollars unique and desired. He had always loved collecting sand dollars when he was younger and their macabre origins did nothing to change that now.

“Stiles,” an all-too-familiar voice suddenly spoke and filled Stiles with dread, and he looked up from the sand dollar in his hand to see none other than the very person he had come here to avoid. Derek Hale.

“...Derek.”

“Why did you leave?”

Stiles scoffed as he shoved the sand dollar into the large pocket of his hoodie, turning away to trek back toward his jeep. He could hear Derek keeping pace easily. “How did you know I was here?” He avoided the question.

“Tracked your scent.”

“Right. Werewolf. Even the saltiest air couldn’t stop that nose.”

“Stiles. Why. Did you leave?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes.”

Nothing had changed. Derek still had his short answers, Stiles still had his evasive non-answers, but Stiles couldn’t help but love, so much. He didn’t even know when it had begun.

“Derek,” Stiles said, pausing his brisk walk to finally look at the werewolf and damn, those eyes, “After what I said, I just...had to get out of there, okay?”

Derek looked back at him. The ocean washed against the shore in a rhythm too soothing for the intensity of Stiles’s pounding heartbeat. The sun cast brilliant colors against the sky, shimmering reflections on the water’s surface, darkening more with every passing moment.

“You didn’t give me a chance to answer.” Derek’s voice was unbelievably soft, barely audible above the wind and the tides.

“I already know you don’t feel the same, it’s okay.” Stiles’s smile felt too sharp on his own face, and it cut into his heart.

Derek’s eyes flickered between Stiles’s own, searching for something he did not know. “Are you so sure?”

“...If you have something to tell me, just say it.”

Derek’s smile was soft, like an afternoon breeze, and the touch of his hand as he reached for Stiles’s cheek was just as gentle. Stiles closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, the air salted and fresh, and with a hint of Derek’s unique forest smell. 

“I love you too, Stiles.”

Stiles opened his eyes, catching the sunset reflected in Derek’s eyes before he pushed forward in a swell of emotion and met Derek’s lips in a wet kiss, tasting of the chilled sea breeze and warm breath, the softness of lips. Derek let out a soft noise of surprise that Stiles hoped to remember for the rest of his days, then pressed back against him, and Stiles felt hands in his hair.

There was soon a slick slide of tongues, and Stiles felt lost and found all at once as he kissed in a tangle of limbs and passion.

When they parted, breathing deeply, Stiles felt deeply content, and his grin was wide and genuine. He leaned in again to peck Derek lightly, teasingly, before they stood apart again, but still close, their fingers intertwined.

“I can’t believe you never told me,” Stiles said, but his voice was fond.

“You never told me either.”

“I totally did! Eventually.”

Derek raised his eyebrows. “In the middle of an argument about whether we should avenge the rusalka’s death or go after it directly.”

“I was feeling very passionately at the moment.”

Derek laughed. Stiles thought it might be the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. He wanted to bottle it up and keep it for quiet moments.

They walked back to their vehicles hand in hand, spewing ideas back and forth until they came up with a solid plan to defeat the rusalka, together.

Stiles kept the sand dollar he found that day, and it held a special place in his heart. Every year on that day, he and Derek returned to that beach and walked the shore together until they found the perfect sand dollar to add to their collection, and it became their anniversary tradition. And every year, they continued to love each other just as deeply as they did that first day, even in the heat of their arguments.


End file.
